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Company of Heroes Online is two slightly different free MMO real-time strategy computer games co-developed by Relic Entertainment. The first release was co-developed with Shanda for the Chinese market while the second release in the South Korean market was developed by solely Relic and is being operated by Windysoft. Both versions are currently in Open Beta.
An American version is also being produced. It is currently in open beta and is expected to be released September 2010.
What distinguishes Company of Heroes Online from the retail Company of Heroes is that a command tree is chosen before the game starts instead of during game play. Similar to choosing a class in other MMORPGs, as you play with this character/army it will become more powerful unlocking new abilities that didn't exist in the original.
Company of Heroes Online adds hero units. These are typically marginally more powerful than standard units and feature specific bonuses that affect a unit's use. For example a combat unit may gain builder abilities or a builder unit may specialize in combating tanks. Heroes level up during game play as they kill your opponent's army. They tend to start out weaker or on par with a standard unit of that type, but once reaching maximum level are very useful tools to bring into a match.
The player can customize their unit with up to eight army items to represent specialized training. Army items are passive buffs applied to one type of unit. e.g. a faster tank
After completing a match your character is awarded experience, supply and may randomly receive up to four heroes or army items. Trading supply as an in game currency allows for acquiring specific heroes and army items.
The Korean and American versions feature the entire single player campaign from the retail release while the Chinese version does not.